


Budding Silence

by daitsukidesu



Series: A Whole lot of Yachi-ships [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, Gen, Might be platonic or romantic, The author doesn't know, Trains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-07-18 04:03:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7298830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daitsukidesu/pseuds/daitsukidesu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aone's greatest concern is that no one would sit next to him on the train. Yachi's was dying and future unemployment caused by current blunders.</p><p>A story of how they met and became friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Budding Silence

**Author's Note:**

> This inflated.
> 
> It was supposed to be short and cute and a drabble. It inflated.

The first time she noticed him in the train, she was scared. How could she not feel that way when she looked at him? A tall tall boy, well built with silver hair and a scary glare. He was sitting alone, the seat next to him empty. And she didn't wonder why. Who would dare sit next to such a terrifying person?

For a second Yachi considered sitting there but images of his glare fixed on her appeared in her head and she freaked out. What if he was part of the yakuza? Or the son of someone in the yakuza? Sitting next to him would be death, she’d be hunted down for the rest of her life and end up having to live in the streets just to escape them. She’d end up living a life of ruin and despair, thought dead by her own mother, she’d live the rest of her life alone.

She noticed an empty seat a few feet away from the boy and sat there, relieved that she would live to see another day.

She couldn’t help but notice that the seat next to him remained empty for the rest of the ride.

-

She saw the boy again next week. And again the next. She saw him every week, every time she took that train. He was always alone, that seat next to him empty. No one seemed to dare to sit next to him, Yachi was no exception.

Scary as he was, after a few weeks, she couldn’t help but think that he looked lonely.

-

There were no seats.

Yachi blanched at the sight of just how full the train was. There were no seats left and there were so so many people standing up. For a second Yachi considered joining them and reached up to grab a handhold, only to fall a few millimetres too short even on her tip toes.

She secretly cursed the giants of Japan.

Staring up at the handholds, she bit her lip, knowing that it was far too dangerous to stand up while not holding it but what else was she to do if there were no seats left?

Or… were there?

A second search for seats in the train revealed the boy she’s noticed for a few weeks now. He was sitting down, and as usual, there was an empty seat next to him.

Yachi bit her lip, thinking of what she should do.

Risk death by lurching train or a life of ruin being chased by the yakuza.

The train’s doors closed and Yachi decided that dying later sounds much better than dying now.

She went over to the boy and took the seat next to him.

She didn’t turn to see the look of shock on the boy’s face.

They didn’t exchange a word, but Yachi got through the train ride alive and that was nice. There weren’t any threatening people following her around after she got off and that was nice too.

Perhaps that boy wasn’t as scary as she thought he was.

-

The next time she took the train, she saw him again. He was looking at her, his head tilted ever so slightly to his right, almost like an invitation.

Yachi bit her lip, but sat next to him anyway despite the other empty seats in the train.

This time she looked up at him and gave a small smile, shaky and nervous but a smile nonetheless.

His glare lessened and it almost looked like he was trying to smile back.

Perhaps he didn’t have any ties to the yakuza after all.

-

She somehow ended up sitting next to him week after week.

If she was feeling romantic Yachi might just say that it felt like the seat next to him was kept empty just for her but she wasn’t nearly that silly so she just went over to sit next to him whenever she took the train.

It was quiet and they never exchanged anything more than a smile and nod but the silence was comfortable and nice.

She got used to it.

Those train rides became a place where she could be calm and content and let go off all the anxieties of the previous week.

-

 _‘The train will be full today.’_ Her mother said.

Yachi didn’t see how it would be a problem, she was practically guaranteed a seat next to that boy anyway.

Except this week she wasn’t.

All the seats were completely taken and he wasn’t anywhere at all. He wasn’t sitting and there was no empty seat next to him waiting for her. Was he not taking the train today?

She teetered at the door, biting her lip as she looked for a seat. She looked up, there were some unused handholds but they were just as high up as before. She wouldn’t be able to reach.

The closing of the doors was announced and Yachi went into the train properly, still looking up at the handholds. They were her only hope to live.

She reached up, standing on her tiptoes as she tried to stretch herself as much as she could. Her fingers almost reached the handhold but she was still a bit too short. Yachi narrowed her eyes as she tried even harder to reach it. She had to.

If she didn’t somehow manage to grab one she’d end up swaying back and forth as the train moves. She’d get jostled around. She’d bump into people and one of them might be her future boss and she might push him over and when she grew up and finished college and started working, she’d meet him and he’d recognise her and she’d be instantly be fired on the spot. Rumours would fly and he’d tell everyone she was an incompetent brat who pushed people over in trains and no one else would hire her. She’d have to live completely dependent on her mother’s wages and her mother will end up hating her for being a completely useless daughter and-

The train lurched forward.

Yachi was thrown backwards with a yelp. She closed her eyes, awaiting impact with the floor (or maybe her future boss) but none came. Instead there was a hand on her shoulder, steadying her. She opened her eyes to see the boy she couldn’t find, looking down at her with worry. (Of course, she couldn’t help but note, he had no trouble grabbing one of those handholds.) It was his hand on her shoulder and Yachi smiled up a silent thanks.

She saw him look down at her for a moment, eyes narrowing and looking more like a glare than usual, before glancing up at the handholds. His hand didn’t leave her shoulder.

Realising that he saw her problem and didn’t intend to let her get jostled around like a ping pong ball, Yachi looked up at him with a bit of admiration. She hesitantly reached over to hold his shirt, hoping the fabric would be a sufficient substitute for the handhold, hoping that he wouldn’t mind.

He bobbed his head as if nodding and Yachi’s smile brightened.

How could she have been so scared of someone so kind?

-

Clutching his shirt as he held on to her shoulder ended up being normal.

They did it whenever there were no seats and Yachi was grateful he was there to help.

At some point he changed his grip, an arm around her shoulders instead of a hand on one. It probably should have been awkward but it wasn't. It was more comfortable for him and much safer for her. It was something that just happened and there was nothing to feel awkward about.

(Except maybe everyone's stares but he only needed to look up and those disappeared.)

The smiled and nods were still there. They still didn’t speak.

That was fine.

-

The weekend after she became Karasuno’s manager, she was beaming. She hummed as she skipped over to the seat next to the boy and practically bounced in her seat.

She felt a light prod on her cheek and looked up to see him with his head tilted, curious and confused.

“I joined a club!” Yachi grinned as she explained.

He nodded, understanding, lips curling up slightly.

Somehow with that, the dam holding back all the words she’s thought of saying to him broke and she talked. She talked about Shimizu and how beautiful she was. How tall and terrifying everyone in the club was. How she nearly didn’t become a manager but Hinata convinced her to be one anyway. How she had so many ideas for posters and oh she’s making a poster for them.

“Because the volleyball club doesn’t really have much funds and we need donations.”

She stopped then, looking up at him. He was smiling – actually smiling, his face the furthest from a glare that she’s ever seen.

He patted her shoulder.

“I look forward to playing Karasuno again.”

Yachi gasped, a motion probably over exaggerated, but she couldn’t help but look at him with wide eyes.

It was his silence that prompted her to never speak. She’s never seen her open his mouth before, whether to speak or even yawn. And now he was speaking – actually speaking, using real words! – to her. To Yachi Hitoka of all people.

She nearly shrieked.

She blinked then, processing his words, then her eyes widened, and this time she did shriek.

“YOU PLAY VOLLEYBALL!?”

He nodded, “Date Tech.”

“That’s- that’s-”

The school Shimizu said they had trouble with.

“That’s so cool!!”

He nodded again, smiling.

-

They spoke more after that, or rather, she spoke and he listened, speaking rarely but gesturing and nodding and pointing in ways that made her understand what he wanted to say.

She spoke of Hinata a lot – the boy a ball of encouraging sunshine was apparently this tall giant’s friend. She liked the nods and serious faces he made when she spoke of Hinata. Almost like an excited puppy who didn’t know how to show his feelings.

It was obvious when he was going to have a practice match that week now that she knew he played volleyball. He was even more quiet and subdued than usual, his glare-like gaze scarier than normal. On those days, they didn’t talk much, and parted with a smile and a nod.

Yachi wishing him good luck.

Him promising to try his best.

-

They exchanged numbers the weekend after Hinata and Kageyama’s fight, when he saw her distress only increasing as she worried and fretted about them all through the train ride. Right before they parted ways, he gave his phone to her, already preparing it to receive her number.

Yachi laughed when she saw the contact name, the first carefree sound he’s heard from her the whole day. She gave him her number and he sent her a text right after to give her his.

In return for naming her ‘Karasuno ☆彡’, she named him ‘Dateko ʕ´•ᴥ•`ʔ’.

It was then she realised that she didn’t know his name, and he didn’t know hers. She never asked for his and he never indicated wanting to know hers.

She shrugged. It was fine.

At this point in their friendship, such details didn’t really matter anymore.

-

The first text she sent him was to tell him about the Tokyo training camp, and how she hoped Kageyama and Hinata would be able to reconcile by then. It wasn’t mentioned that she won’t be meeting him on the train that week but she was confident he knew that was the reason she was telling him this.

An emoji of a hand giving her an 'OK' sign was all he sent back, and Yachi laughed. Even through texts he didn’t say much. Putting her phone away, she couldn’t help but feel guilty. As much as she was looking forward to the training camp, it made her sad to think of how he’d probably sit all alone again. Like all those weeks before she was forced to sit next to him

She’d try to get him a souvenir as a sorry for putting him through that.

-

The snow globe she managed to find had a miniature Tokyo Tower in it. It also had a teddy bear waving happily in front of the tower and small silver stars mixed into the snow.

It reminded Yachi of him and he gave her a smile and a pat on the head as a thanks.

Yachi grinned and told him that Hinata and Kageyama stopped fighting, and that she couldn’t wait to show him what Karasuno could do now.

He nodded, eyes narrowing in excitement at the prospect of facing them again.

-

She saw him in the sitting in the stands during their match with Wakutani. She waved to get his attention and he nodded in acknowledgement when he saw her. She grinned happily back at him before turning back to the match.

For a moment she contemplated leaving her place behind the team banner to talk to him for a moment. But she saw Shimizu and the rest of the team enter the court and changed her mind.

Even if he was a close friend, she wasn’t about to abandon her team for him. Not even for a moment.

She was sure he would understand.

-

They won.

She ran back to her team, nearly getting attacked by Tanaka and Nishinoya’s flying high fives. After giving them more normal high fives, she noticed him talking to Hinata.

“We’re going to win.”

A grin grew on Hinata’s face as he left, heading in Yachi’s direction.

“We’re not going to lose either.”

Yachi giggled a bit at Hinata's determined words before smiling at him, the smile she gave him before they parted ways the days before he had a practice match. He nodded, his face set the exact same way today as it was on those days she smiled like this.

_‘Good luck.’_

_‘We’ll win.’_

He patted her head, a small gentle gesture that sent her heart soaring with the knowledge that she did something right. He appreciated her attempts of encouragement and conversation and everything else it was she did.

_‘Thank you.’_

Her smile brightened.

-

“Next year. We’ll win.”

“We’ll fight back. We won’t lose.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well that was a good place to end but let’s have some additions just because.
> 
> Omake 1:
> 
> In return for naming her ‘Karasuno ☆彡’, she named him ‘Dateko ʕ´•ᴥ•`ʔ’.  
> He did remind her of a bear sometimes.  
> A cute and cuddly one.
> 
> Omake 2:
> 
> “Yachi, you know Aone?”  
> “Aone?”  
> “The guy just now…”  
> “Oh! Dateko’s bear! We use the same train!”  
> "Dateko's.... bear...???"
> 
> Omake 3:
> 
> “Oi, Aone. Who was that girl?”  
> A shrug. He pulled out his phone and pointed to her messages.  
> “YOU HAVE HER NUMBER!?”
> 
> Omake 4:
> 
> “Apparently it’s strange that I don’t know your name.”  
> He nodded at her, Futakuchi said the same.  
> “Yachi Hitoka.”  
> Hitoka. That was a nice name.  
> “Aone Takanobu,”  
> She grinned, the same brilliant smile he’s grown fond of seeing.  
> “Well, I’ll be in your care from now on as well, Takanobu-kun.”  
> He nodded again, bowing in return to her gesture.  
> They stood up straight, and shared a smile.
> 
>  
> 
> AND HE ALMOST NEVER CALLS HER BY NAME BUT WHEN HE DOES IT'S HITOKA AND NOT YACHI AND OKAY I'M DONE  
> (And no, I have no idea why they take the same train every week ^^;;)


End file.
